Trap-nest



A. 0. AND P5 M. FORSTER.

TRAP NEST.

APPLLcATlon FILED APH. 1o, 1919.

1 ,386,32'7. Y Patented Aug. 2, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

ATTORNEYS A. 0. AND P. M. FRSTER.

TRAP NEST.

APPLICATION man APR. 10.1919.

Patented Aug. 2, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- d. @www ALBERT O. FORSTER AND PERCY M. FORSTER, OFVBERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.

TRAP-Nasr. v

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 2,1921.

Application led. April 10, 1919. Serial No. 288,975.

Y To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that we, ALBERT O. FoRs'rER and Pliner M. FoRsinR, both citizens of the United States, resi'dingat Berkeley, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Trap-Nests, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a trap nest.

It is the principal object of this invention. to provide a trapk nest structure through which hens will pass and which, is vpro-vided with means whereby the laying and nonlaying hens will be separated automatically.

The invention contemplates the use of a housing having one entrydoor 'and two exit doors and inclosing a nest, the entry door being closed by the presence of a hen within the house and the exit doors being selectively unlocked by the presence of an egg within the nest orits absence therefrom.

Thev invention is illustrated by way of exam le in the accom an in@f drawings in which Figure 1 is a view in vertical central section through the complete trap nest, show; ing its parts in their operative posit-ion, as indicated in full lines and their normal position as indicated in dotted lines.

the complete trap.

Fig. 3 is a view infront elevation with parts broken away to disclose the eXit doors and the locking means therefor.

Referring to the drawings, 10 indicates `a housing having walls which form a. substantially square compartment. The front end of the housingis opened and is provided with a. swinging door 11 by which it maybe closed underV conditions to be hereinafter specified. The rear end of the housing is also open and its opened portion is separated by a. vertical partition 12.' This provides two exit openings which are closed by doors 13 and 14 respectively. The interior of the housing is iitted vwith a false bottom floor 15 pivoted substantially midway its length upon a horizontal pin 16. This bottom floor` is lsupported a considerable -distance from the bottom of the housing and thus accommodates the mechanism required for oper ating the exit doorsand an egg drawer 17.

Mounted'in the rear end of the false bottom floor is a nest 18, hereishown asvformed of reticulated material and having an exit opening 19 at its bottom. An egg runway Fig. 2 is a view in rear elevation, showing 20 is secured beneath this opening and in communication therewith and will conduct. eggs from the nest to the locking mechanism of V the exit' doors. YThis mechanism comp rises a weighing lever 21 mounted for vertical swinging movement upon a pivot pin 22. The lever comprises,oppositely and horizontally extending arms and 24. The arm 24 carries a tray or transferring chute 25 normally supported directly beneath the outer end of the runway 20, thus receiving the eggs which pass down this runway from the nest. Beneath the outer end of the tray 25 is positioned the upperend of a chute or runway'25,the other end of which communicates with the egg drawer 17. The arm 24 normally stands in the path of travel of a detent 27, which is pivoted upon'an extension 28 of the exit door 13. Thus, when the arm 211 is in its uppermost and normal position, the movement of the detent 27 will be obstructed and the ydoor 13 held so'that it cannot open. The opposite arm 23'of the weighing' lever 21 normally stands in the position shown in solid lines in Fig. 3 of the drawings and may move toV the position'in dotted lines to obstruct the movement of a finger 29 carried by the exit door 14. By an examination of Fig. 3, it will be evident that the weighing lever may oscillate and will alternately lock or release the separate eXit doors 13 and 14.

The entry door 11 is adapted to be actuated by the weight of the hen on the Hoor 15 after having passed the pivot center 1G. The floor 15 is provided with connecting links 30 which extend upwardly and pivota-lly engage brackets 31. These brackets are carried' upon the outer face of the door 11 and upon extensions of this door which normally project above the hinge pin 32 thereof. The normal position of the door 11 and thefalse floor 15 is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. land the position, when a hen is on the nest 18, is indicated in solid lines. The forward end of the floor 15 is fitted with a swinging pawl 33 which hangs downwardly and normally engages a lock lug34. This lug is fixed to a cross member 35 of the housing and whenpthe pawl 33 is in engagement therewith,'will act to hold the ioor 15 in the posit-ion shown in Fig. 1. In order that the floor 15 will be released from this locked lposition when the hen has passed through one of the exit openings, a tread plate 36 is mounted directly in front l upon aniarm 40. The weight 39/holds the. plate in its uppermost position and does notv in combination with the fixed floor portionV 37. The 4tread portion 36 is hinged for vertical swinging 'mo-vement upon pins 33 and is counter-balanced by a weight 39 carried engage a releasino' in 41 which is carried bythe pawl 33. plate is in its lowermost position, the arm 40 will strike the pin 41 andfcause the pawl y33 to disengage the lug 34. This action will Y thus permitthe heavier outer, end ofthe Vis on the nest.

floor 15 to restore the floor' to the 'positionindicated at dotted lines in Fig. 1.

with an opening 42 through which the hen may v'extend her ghead. rl`his openingis not large enough, however, to permit the passagel of her body therethrough vand as she-v forces outwardly upon the door, it will swing upon the hinge pin 43, providing` this door has been released by the egg-controlled mechanism. Batlle plates 44 are fitted upon each of the doors to prevent chickens or other animals from standing upon the tread plate '36, and thusy also preventing the lentry door 11 from beingY unlocked while 'the hen lnoperation, the Hoor 15 is the position shown in the dotted lines in Fig. 1. The y lhen may then pass in through the open doorway of the housingand will walk -to the nest 18. After having passed the center`16 upon which theflooril is pivoted, the floor will swing upwardly inthe direction of arrow a, as shown in Fig. 1 and this will act to force themlinks 30 upwardly'. and swing the entry door 11 into its Vclosed position.

VAt the same time, the pawl 33 will engage the underface of the lug 34 and 'lock the floor. When an egg has been laid, it will pass along the runway 20 into the tray 25 andfroll up against the detent 27. The `presence of the egg in this position upon the weighing lever will cause the corresponding endy of the lever to swing downwardly to the dotted line position as indicated in Fig. 2 and will move the arm 24 out of an obstructing position before the detent 27, at the same,

time moving the arm 23 up' into a position infront of the finger 29 to lock the door 14,V

The hen may then force the door 13 open and pass vinto the yard set apart for layingV hens. As the hen forcesthe door, the detent 27 will swing outwardlyand permit thev` egg to roll into the chute or runway 25. and

from thence into the egg drawer 17. .-In the event that an egg is not laid, thedoor 13 will not be unlocked and the hen will find,

by trying the eXit doors, that the door 14 is kunlocked and that she may pass into the yard set apart for non-laying hens.Y VWhen the hen steps upon the tread plate 36, after havingY passed through either of the exit o-wever, when thel tread -arating laying and non-laying hens.

l/Vhle we have shown thefpreferred form ofour invention, it will be understood that lmade by those skilled"A in the a.rt',"without Yopenings,the arm 40 will trip the pawl 33 and .permit.hQ-HOOrt-QSWns to its Dermal position, at the same timeV moving the door 111t'o permit the entry of other .hens to the nest. Y

It will thus be seen that the structure heren disclosed, while simple in its formation and operation, at'the same time provides positive and automatically acting means for seprising a housing, an

rentry opening provided witha normally open door, apair of exit openings provided with doors, one of the doors being lnormally locked Yand the other unlocked, a'nest within 90 the housing, an egg tray in'communication therewith, means whereby the presenceofl` a hen within the housing will close the enL trance'door, means whereby the presence of,

an eggwithin the tray will'lock the normally unlocked' exit dooigandunlock the other exit door', the latter means including locking mechanism normally arranged to lock one of the saideXit doors and actuated by the'egg to'another position to unlockthe said normally locked eXitjdoor and lockthe jioo vother exit door, means Vi'for automatically lock-ing the entry door closed, and means for releasing the entry door operable lex-V teriorly of the housing. A 2. A trap nest comprising 'a housing having a normally opened entry doorI at Vone end thereof and a pairofoutlet openings at the other end thereof, doors for.' closing saidoutlet openings', one of which fis normally lockedf 110 and the'other .unlocked ,means whereby the prese'nce of a hen withinthe housingA will causeY the entryldoor tobe closed,'a nest and a tray belowr said nest and means whereby the presence ofl an eggin said tray will un- 115 lockfthe normally locke'dfe-Xit door and look the other eXitdoor, a latch elementon the last named unlockedfdoor', andadapted to y the entry door, means for locking the floor while the hen is on the nest, and means eX- terior of the housing for releasing the Hoor from its locked position when the lien has passed through an exit door.

4. A trap nest comprising a housing, a false ioor therein, means for pivotally supporting said floor for vertical movement from a point medium its length, a nest at one end of said ioor, a pair of normally closedV exit doors `adjacent said end of the Hoor, a normally opened entry door at the opposite end of the floor, linked means between the Hoor andV said entry door whereby the presence of a hen on the nest will close the entry door, latch means for locking the floor while the hen is on the nest and means exterior of the housing connected with said i latch for releasing the floor from its locked position when the hen has passed through the exit door.

5. A trap nest comprising a. housing having a normally open entry door at one end thereof and a pair of normally closed exit doors adjacent to the opposite end thereof,

Y a false Hoor pivoted within the housing and Vwith the adjacent end of the false floor normally inclined downward toward the opening of the entry door, a nest upon the opposite elevated end of the said Hoor, linked means connecting the entry. door whereby the presence of a hen on the nest at the opposite end of the false floor will swing the outer end of the Hoor upward and close the entry door, means for ordinarily locking'the floor and door in this position when the nest swings downward, means for alternately locking the exit doors, one of which is normally looked, and an egg pan carried on said locking means and adapted to reverse the locking positions thereof, means for maintaining the looking means in this position while a hen is within the housing and means operated by a hen upon exit from the housing to release the locked nest thereby opening the entry door and at the same time restoring the exit doors to their original conditions.

6. A trap nest comprising a housing, a nest therein, an entry door at one end of the housing, and a pair of exit doors at the opposite end, means whereby the presence of a hen on the nest will close the entry door, a tray below said nest, a pivotal supporting means for said tray, said means being adapted to normally lock one exit door and with the presence of an egg on the tray to unlock the normally locked exit door and lock the other eXit door, and meansV whereby the passage of a hen through either of the exit doors will cause the entry doorto return to its original position and cause an egg on the tray to roll therefrom and permit the pivotal supporting means of said egg to return to its original locking position.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALBERT O. FORSTER. PERCY M. FORSTER.

Witnesses CHAs. H. SAMUnLs, WINIFRED J. Fnnnrs. 

